2012: The Good, The Bad And The Future

It’s New Years Eve, a day of celebration and I have one eye looking forward and one eye looking back. 2012 was a year of violence and peace, love and hate, creation and destruction – not unlike any other year, really. What makes it unique are the detail which, thanks to Google, are better observed visually.

Soon 2012 will be nothing more than a memory so it is vital that one spends the time to remember the good, learn from the bad and anticipate the future. Comparable to a whirlwind, here is my personal account of my first year as The Wandering Rose.

The Good
1. Become a Canadian citizen – March 5th, 2012 will forever mark the anniversary of my Canadian initiation, when personal roots became intertwined as one with the maple trees.

2. Mexico – The first holiday planned in its entirety by myself, M and I enjoyed a well earned week in the Mayan Riveria under the heat of the heavy sun.

3. The Wandering Rose – Writing about my passion gives me a whole new sense of joy and you, dedicated reader, besiege upon me a sense of purpose. Watching the number of facebook ‘likes’ climb (a seeming numerical success marker, these days) has been exhilarating! If you have not yet done so, I suggest you make a young adventurer happy and check it out here. I write for myself and for the entertainment and curiosity of others, and although just a hobby at present, I won’t neglect the possibility of something more.

The Bad
1. Year 3, semester 1 – Although my chosen classes have been as interesting as ever, this particular semester has been one of learning my limits and mapping (excuse the geography pun) my course of action towards a future career. Regardless of how often I am told the feeling of despair and helplessness is common amongst students in such foggy situations, it doesn’t makes things any easier.

The Future
1.Change major (?) – Don’t worry, I’ll never give up my love affair with geography. I have however been questioning whether to spread my love around to also include environmental studies, as a double major. This is still only a potential act in motion, but watch this space.

2. Ottawa – My birthday weekend will be celebrated in snowy Ottawa, Canada’s capital that I haven’t visited since long before the immigration process began. The agenda includes gecaching, skating the Rideau canal, exploring, eating and drinking well and blowing a big raspberry to Stephen Harper (this one is for you, Mother Nature!)

2. Peru – My biggest advenutre yet! M and I will be setting foot in the southern hemisphere to witness the Nazca Lines and hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu (no surprise there!). New world wonder, number two ? Check!

3. Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick road trip – It’s just as important to explore your own country as it is to explore the wider world; and the sounds of the sea are calling me forward! A family holiday to PEI was planned over a year in advanced, which thankfully also coincides with M’s brothers wedding in St. John, New Brunswick. This trip will be one for the album, permitting my 1997 Chevy Cavalier nicknamed ‘Little Red’ is feeling courageous.